Trump bumped off top billionaires list amid post-inauguration stock slide
President Donald Trump‘s falling net worth has seen him bumped from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as shares in his eponymous media company continue to slide following the inauguration.
On Friday, Trump was ranked number 493 on Bloomberg‘s list of the world’s 500 richest people, boasting a net worth of $6.41 billion, down from $7.16 billion last Monday.
According to Forbes, meanwhile, Trump’s fortune currently stands at $5.8 billion, placing him 560th in the world.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump via Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and The Trump Organization via email for comment outside of normal business hours.
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Why It Matters
The net worth of the president is derived in large part from his real estate ventures, more recently supplemented by his controlling interest in TMTG, the parent company of Truth Social, as well as his new foray into the world of cryptocurrency.
The performance of these business assets, particularly the share price of TMTG, has been closely tied to the president’s political trajectory, with many viewing it as a gauge of his current popularity.
What To Know
Although Trump’s net worth remains well above its level when he left office in 2021, his removal from Bloomberg’s list is likely tied to the recent decline in TMTG’s stock price, which has edged downward post-inauguration following a strong few months after his victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shares in TMTG, trading under the DJT ticker symbol on the Nasdaq, are down more than 21 percent over the past five trading sessions, and were down more than 3.5 percent in pre-market trading Monday, having closed at $32.71 on Friday.
Trump has a 52.9 percent stake in TMTG, held in a revocable trust controlled by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
The sell-off has been attributed by Fortune to the end of a post-election buying spree, as many investors seek to cash in on the gains from the stock’s recent volatility, given the company’s uncertain fundamentals.
Others have linked this to the president launching his own cryptocurrency token, $TRUMP. Ethical concerns over potential conflicts of interest and the token’s ownership structure may mar the president’s other business ventures.
$TRUMP has experienced a similar decline recently, despite making an impressive debut. The coin’s value is down 48.7 percent over the past week, according to CoinMarketCap, and is currently changing hands at $26.26 as of 5:00 a.m. E.T Monday.
It remains unclear whether the president’s cryptocurrency, boasting a market cap of $5.24 billion, has had any effect on his overall net worth. Axios previously reported that the coin’s impressive debut had added over $50 billion to his on-paper fortune, though Forbes and Bloomberg have not factored this into their calculations, given their theoretical value and Trump’s unclear ownership of the venture.
What People Are Saying
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, previously told Newsweek: “Shares of DJT have been one of the most fascinating business stories of the last year. It’s been an epic back-and-forth in buying and selling, largely centered around Trump’s election chances.”
Yesha Yadav, associate dean and Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University, and former legal counsel to the World Bank, told Newsweek that the launch of Trump’s meme coin “has the potential to add considerable complexity to the task facing industry and policymakers as they pursue the long-awaited goal of developing a rigorous and tailored set of regulatory guardrails for the crypto market.”
“At the same time, those working on the crypto reform agenda face the novel challenge of having to prepare robust rules and standards while seeking to ensure that they scrupulously avoid any perception of potentially favoring the president’s interests or those of his family,” Yadav added.
What Happens Next?
Despite its recent struggles, many believe that TMTG holds significant upside potential, given that Truth Social will remain a key source of direct dispatches from Trump over the course of his presidency.
A TMTG investor recently called Trump’s return to the White House a “landmark moment” for the stock in an interview with Reuters, and said that its success would only pick up as his presidency gains momentum.
